BASS TALK
Bass playing, recording & composing
On this page I will try to share some of my thoughts about playing and recording the bass and talk a little about some of the many cool bass players out there who has been a great inspiration to me.
All the best
Kris :-)
Scroll down to check out some Bass Talk!
Want to know more about bass lessons in DK?
Bass Talk - 01.05.18
Check out the new podcast bass-talk with Line Bass Sørensen! Danish version!
Bass Talk - 19.03.17
Hey guys! I’m back with some bass talk! As I mentioned in the previous bass talk, I’m getting ready to track some bass for the upcoming album with The Sonic Flow. I’m quite fond with the recording settings that I talked about in the previous bass talk. The first idea that I’m trying out for the new album is a slap bass thing, for that I would like to record with my Sandberg California TT4 '08 (Hardcore Aged Fiasta Red) in order to get that punchy deep end and the clarity treble from the build in pre-amp. Unfortunately I was having some trouble with the electronics of the bass. So I called the guys at Hansen Guitars. These guys just know how to set up your instrument. Heres a couple of photos showing the talented technician Claus Holm Jensen working on my bass. Just got it back and it sounds awesome!
Among other things we had to change the battery holder to get rid of some noise.
Guitar/bass tech Claus Holm Jensen checking out the Sandberg Bass at Hansen Guitars.
Previous Bass Talks...
Bass Talk - 24.02.17
In this first Bass Talk I would like to discuss some off the possibilities when it comes to recording the electric bass.
I’m going to use the track ‘Make It Happen’ from ‘Un Poco Stereophony’ as an example to talk about bass recording. This is going to be pretty nerdy so hang in there ;-)
This track just kind of developed from the bassline. I was just having fun with this groove idea and then months later I decided to finish the track for the EP. By then I had already recorded all the bass parts of the tune with a mic setup. I might have been using my Fender American Standard Jazz Bass '06 with S-1 switch (normally turned on) rosewood neck (3-color sunburst) even though I use my Sandberg California TT4 '08 (Hardcore Aged Fiasta Red) in the video version of ‘Make It Happen’. In the first place the track was recorded with a mic on my Marshall 7041 bass cab with 4x10 speakers using a Gallien Krueger MB 1001 RB 2 head. I tried the Shure PG52 mic and the AKG 2000c mic but I found them both to beefy to work with in the mix, even though these mic's are great for other purposes. Instead I ended up using the classic Shure SM57 mic. That mic actually captures a whole lot of bass while still keeping a nice midrange of the bass. In my view there is some pros and cons on the question of whether miking bass amps or recording straight into the board. The mic thing actually gave some life an action to the slap thing in this tune but for other purposes the straight into board recording is more easy to define in the mix.
Later on I developed the idea about the bass playing along with the sax and the guitar on the second theme. This new theme I recorded straight into the 3rd generation Mbok via PreSonus BlueTube DP V2: 2-channel, dual-path mic/instrument preamp. This was done with my Fender American Standard Jazz Bass '11 with maple neck (Charcoal Frost Metallic). This bass has a very beautiful singing tone with a warm punchy feeling from the maple neck.
For the upcoming recordings I’m using my Gallien Krueger MB 1001 RB 2 head as preamp. There’s a balanced direct out signal on the front of the amp and I pushed the post EQ bottom to get the EQ settings recoded along with the bass signal. After that I go into the BlueTube DP V2 to get the warmth from the tubes and then straight into the 3rd generation Mbox. I think that’s going to work out on the new recordings. Anyway I’ll let you know what I think when I’m done with the next recordings.
My advice when it comes to recording bass would be: Experiment with different mic's and recording settings until you find the solution that you like, and the solution that supports the music you are recording.
I hope you enjoyed this first bass talk. New bass talks will be coming up!
All the best
Kris